Qualitätsvergleich von ökologischen und konventionallen Hartweizen- und Weichweizenproben mittels der Biokristallisationsmethode

Die Weizenproben aus dem MASCOT- Versuch in Toscanien Italiens (Mediterranean Arable System COmparision Trial), der seit 6 Jahren durch das Zentrum für Landwirtschaftliche Forschung CIRAA (Interdepartmental Centre for Agri-environmental Research „E. Avanzi”) der Universität in Pisa geleitet wird, wurden mit der Biokristallisationsmethode ausgewertet. Die Proben stammen aus einem RCB Versuch in dreifacher Feldwiederholung. Die Kristallbilder wurden visuell und mittels des Computerprogramms "Image J“ ausgewertet

Quality comparison of organic and conventional wheat by use of common and holistic methods of analysis

The market for organic food is strongly growing. There are many reasons why consumers buy products from organic agriculture. Some reasons are attributed to the product quality as well as to the assumption about the production process used in organic agriculture. Organic food stands for a sustainable and socially acceptable production. In addition, the desire for a healthy nutrition is important. So in summary consumers chose organic products because they trust in a number of attributes related to the product itself and it’s production process. During the last years, food scandals developed in conventional agriculture as well as in organic agriculture. Therefore the consumers lost some of their confidence in organic products. With a growing production the risk for more scandals might be rising. Thus emerged a need for methods, which can examine the quality of organically produced food (authenticity examination) and compare it with the quality of conventional products. In such comparison studies it is of particular importance to use a possibly wide range of analysis methods, because the quality differences due to the farming system can appear in crops in various forms – in the contents of singular compounds, as well as in the structural features, which only can be analyzed on the whole product (Kokornaczyk et al., 2008). Therefore, the common and holistic methods of analysis have been united in the current research in order to receive complementary information about the given samples. The aim of the research was to examine and compare the quality of the organically and conventionally grown grain samples. The samples derived from the Mediterranean Arable System Comparison Trial (MASCOT) in Italian Toscana, a long-term experiment launched in 2001 and carried out at the Interdepartmental Centre for Agri-environmental Research “E. Avanzi” (CIRAA) of the University of Pisa. The choice of the applied analysis methods was based on the founds available in literature. The organically and conventionally grown wheat often differs in total protein content, which depends on the availability of N and is also an important indicator of the technological quality of grain (Alföldi et al., 2006). The content of carotenoids, which belong to the secondary plant metabolites, was found to differ in organic and conventional crops because of the different growth conditions, like exposure to pests and diseases (Alföldi et al., 2006). Many studies were conducted on the antioxidants contents present in different wheat varieties (Zhou et al., 2004; Adom et al., 2003). But to our knowledge there is still limited literature on the contents of antioxidants in wheat samples deriving from differently managed farming systems. Studies indicate that holistic methods, such as biocrystallization, are especially suitable for authenticity tests of organic produce, hence a validation of these methods has been demanded (Siderer et al., 2005)

Influence of temperature and relative humidity on patterns formed in dried plasma and serum droplets

In the present methodological study, we investigated the influence of different evaporation conditions upon patterns formed in desiccated plasma and serum droplets; furthermore, we determined the potential of such patterns to distinguish between four donors. Our results show that the development of different pattern features strongly depended on relative humidity: lower relative humidity triggered the formation of cracks, whereas higher relative humidity favored the development of inner crystalline structures. Settings that allowed for the best donor differentiation and at the same time showed high stability of the experimental system were 24.5 ◦C /15% rH and 30.5 ◦C /45% rH for plasma and 30.5 ◦C /15% rH and 36.6 ◦C /45% rH for serum droplets. The results suggest that for the development of diagnostic tests based on pattern formation in evaporating plasma and serum droplets the choice of right evaporation conditions may influence the experimental system stability as also the test accuracy

Preliminary Study on Force-Like Effects between As45x, Water, and Wheat Seeds Performed by Means of the Droplet Evaporation Method

Background: The droplet evaporation method (DEM) is based on pattern formation in evaporating droplets. It has been shown that the local connected fractal dimension (LCFD; a complexity measure) of crystalline structures grown in evaporating droplets of wheat seed leakages depended upon whether the seeds were treated with an ultra-high dilution (UHD) or water control.1, 2 In homeopathy it is usually assumed, that UHD's need to come in direct (physical) contact with the organism to be treated to exhibit their action; however, recently, it has been demonstrated on a wheat seed germination model that UHD's may influence organisms also at a distance, i.e. without any physical contact. 3 In this case the UHD's effectiveness decreases with increasing distance. Here we test whether DEM might serve also as a tool to study such force-like influences. In a series of three DEM experiments (E1-3) we studied (i) force-like effects occurring between As2O3 45x treatment (As45x) and undiluted, unsuccussed, ultrapure water (W), (ii) As45x and wheat seeds, as also (iii) whether force-like effects may be shielded by means of aluminum foil, commonly applied for such purposes in homeopathic research

Deep learning applied to analyze patterns from evaporated droplets of Viscum album extracts.

This paper introduces a deep learning based methodology for analyzing the self-assembled, fractal-like structures formed in evaporated droplets. To this end, an extensive image database of such structures of the plant extract Viscum album Quercus [Formula: see text] was used, prepared by three different mixing procedures (turbulent, laminar, and diffusion based). The proposed pattern analysis approach is based on two stages: (1) automatic selection of patches that exhibit rich texture along the database; and (2) clustering of patches in accordance with prevalent texture by means of a Dense Convolutional Neural Network. The fractality of the patterns in each cluster is verified through Local Connected Fractal Dimension histograms. Experiments with Gray-Level Co-Occurrence matrices are performed to determine the benefit of the proposed approach in comparison with well established image analysis techniques. For the investigated plant extract, significant differences were found between the production modalities; whereas the patterns obtained by laminar flow showed the highest fractal structure, the patterns obtained by the application of turbulent mixture exhibited the lowest fractality. Our approach is the first to analyze, at the pure image level, the clustering properties of regions of interest within a database of evaporated droplets. This allows a greater description and differentiation of the patterns formed through different mixing procedures

Self-Organized Crystallization Patterns from Evaporating Droplets of Common Wheat Grain Leakages as a Potential Tool for Quality Analysis

We studied the evaporation-induced pattern formation in droplets of common wheat kernel leakages prepared out of ancient and modern wheat cultivars as a possible tool for wheat quality analysis. The experiments showed that the substances which passed into the water during the soaking of the kernels created crystalline structures with different degrees of complexity while the droplets were evaporating. The forms ranged from spots and simple structures with single ramifications, through dendrites, up to highly organized hexagonal shapes and fractal-like structures. The patterns were observed and photographed using dark field microscopy in small magnifications. The evaluation of the patterns was performed both visually and by means of the fractal dimension analysis. From the results, it can be inferred that the wheat cultivars differed in their pattern-forming capacities. Two of the analyzed wheat cultivars showed poor pattern formation, whereas another two created well-formed and complex patterns. Additionally, the wheat cultivars were analyzed for their vigor by means of the germination test and measurement of the electrical conductivity of the grain leakages. The results showed that the more vigorous cultivars also created more complex patterns, whereas the weaker cultivars created predominantly poor forms. This observation suggests a correlation between the wheat seed quality and droplet evaporation patterns

Synthesis and biological evaluation of chemokine receptor ligands with 2-benzazepine scaffold

Targeting CCR2 and CCR5 receptors is considered as promising concept for the development of novel antiinflammatory drugs. Herein, we present the development of the first probe-dependent positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of CCR5 receptors with a 2-benzazepine scaffold. Compound 14 (2-isobutyl-N-({[N-methyl-N-(tetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl)amino]methyl}phenyl)-1-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-2-benzazepine-4-carboxamide) activates the CCR5 receptor in a CCL4-dependent manner, but does not compete with [3H]TAK-779 binding at the CCR5. Furthermore, introduction of a p-tolyl moiety at 7-position of the 2-benzazepine scaffold turns the CCR5 PAM 14 into the selective CCR2 receptor antagonist 26b. The structure affinity and activity relationships presented here offer new insights into ligand recognition by CCR2 and CCR5 receptors.Medicinal Chemistr

Diagnostic tests based on pattern formation in drying body fluids - A mapping review.

There are numerous diagnostic tests based on pattern formation in desiccating body fluids, where the pattern or some of its characteristics constitute the diagnostic test outcome. However, partially due to the development in different time periods, and partially due to publications in languages different from English, most of these diagnostic tests exist as separate approaches and have never been grouped, systematized, nor compared with each other. In the present mapping review, we performed a wide literature search with the aim to collect all diagnostic tests based on pattern formation in desiccating body fluids. Furthermore, we grouped the identified diagnostic tests according to their experimental protocols, type of body fluids investigated, and target conditions, and propose so for the first time a classification of different diagnostic tests based on pattern formation in desiccating body fluids. The literature search revealed 1603 publications, out of which 141 were included into the review. Following three main classification criteria (way of deposition of the fluid for desiccation, addition of reagents, and spatial restrictions during evaporation), we identified six different methods; following a further classification concerning the analyzed body fluid we identified 30 different diagnostic tests based on pattern formation in evaporating body fluids. Amongst these tests are well-known procedures such as ferning tests (tear ferning for the assessment of tear film quality, saliva and cervical mucus ferning for the detection of the fertile period, and amniotic fluid ferning for the diagnosis of fetal membrane rupture), whereas other tests are less well-established. In the latter group, the most frequently investigated body fluids were serum, saliva, and blood; the most frequently addressed target conditions were cancer, inflammation, and benign tumors. We recommend conducting further systematic reviews and meta-analyses concerning groups of methods addressing the same target condition